It became the major allele in wolves, making them bigger than other canids, probably during the last ice age. However, the small allele never disappeared. During the #domestication time, humans created the first small dogs using the ancestral small allele that still existing in wolves. We found it in a 9,500 year old dog sample. Today this small allele is the major allele in modern dogs, in 75% of small breeds < 15kg

Excited to share our story about an ancestral mutation in a #lncrna antisense of IGF1, that appeared over 50,000 years ago in #wolves, and that impacts modern #dogs and wild canids body size. It's out in @CurrentBiology. cell.com/current-biolog… All thanks to my co-authors including @NicolasDubos @BevantKevin @ThomasDerrien7 @laurenhennelly1 @LrFrantz @Greger_Larson and the Ostrander lab @genome_gov